Biodiversity

"A U.S. judge has dealt another blow to the Trump administration's efforts to increase domestic oil and gas output from public lands, saying officials failed to protect habitat for a declining bird species when it issued energy leases on hundreds of square miles."

"Deer, bobcats and black bears are gathering around parts of Yosemite national park typically teeming with visitors".

"The Trump administration is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to steer clear of green groups’ complaints about environmental waivers for the U.S.-Mexico border wall."

"Environmental and animal advocacy groups haven’t shown they have legal standing to challenge the Trump administration’s revised Endangered Species Act regulations, but a lawsuit from a coalition of states can move forward, a federal court ruled Monday."

"Little brown bats, an endangered species, have declined by more than 90% due to white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that causes bats to wake up from hibernation, and consequently drains their essential fat reserves. A new study uses genetics to determine that little brown bats with certain genetic traits are more likely to survive the disease."

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Thursday a rule that will simplify or waive agency reviews of certain biotech farm products, including plants and seeds that have been genetically modified or engineered."

"The new coronavirus rescue package from House Democrats would dedicate funding to track diseases that spread to humans through wildlife, an effort to prevent any future pandemics similar to COVID-19."

"The Trump administration on Thursday denied Endangered Species Act protection to a weasel-like woodland mammal called the Pacific fisher across most of its West Coast range, except for a dwindling population in California’s southern Sierras."

"A coalition of conservation groups is suing the Trump administration over its signature border wall, arguing that the transfer of military funds for the wall’s construction is unconstitutional and claiming that the administration did not have the right to waive certain environmental requirements."

"Reports of bugs nicknamed "murder hornets" in the United States generated a lot of buzz as well as new legislation this week — and climate change could make the problem worse."